Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-05-16-Speech-4-045"
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"en.20020516.2.4-045"2
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"Obviously I welcome the adoption of a European Parliament resolution on the FAO World Food Summit. After all, it was my group that requested it. Five years after the first summit, it is clear that the progress made – a fall of 40 million in the 800 million who are suffering from hunger – is very small compared with the objective of halving the number of undernourished people by 2015.
The resolution contains some interesting paragraphs, such as the one about the need for the new WTO round to focus on development and food security and the need for concomitant reforms of the common agricultural policy and common fisheries policy. Overall, however, the commitments made are very weak: the resolution does not recognise the supremacy of the right to food, or to sovereignty over food supplies, and neither does it tackle the structural factors which generate food insecurity.
In fact, as we are well aware, it is not the quantity of food available in the world that is the problem, but the way that it is distributed amongst those who live there. The new technologies on reproduction, in particular genetically modified organisms, will not change anything either; quite the opposite. Thanks to these seeds and genetic technologies, small farmers and the people who live in the South are even more at the mercies of the multinationals. Not only are these firms tightening their grip on farmers by selling them their magic seeds; they are also encouraging them to produce food for consumers in the North, to the detriment of their own needs. This explains why three quarters of the people suffering from hunger in developing countries are small farmers.
The time has come to put an end to unfair commercial rules and practices where trade in agricultural goods is concerned. The European Union should not delay in scrapping its export subsidies. It is not enough to talk about joined-up Community policies; this principle also needs to be applied in practice. The objective of the millennium is to halve poverty by 2015, not to protect our farmers, our fishing fleets and our agri-food industries; that is why we will be asking you to support our amendments.
The best way to fight famine is actually to give access to the earth, access to water and access to genetic resources back to the people of the South, and to protect their farmers and their own markets."@en1
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